


The Unknown Soldier

by anna_chronistic



Series: Autopsy [4]
Category: Les Misérables (2012), Les Misérables - All Media Types, Les Misérables - Schönberg/Boublil, Les Misérables - Victor Hugo
Genre: Autopsies, Canon Era, Gen, Not A Fix-It, Post-Barricade, Post-Seine, calling les amis by their first names, everyone dies, forensic terms, this is supposed to be sad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-09
Updated: 2018-03-09
Packaged: 2019-03-27 16:59:37
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,785
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13885167
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anna_chronistic/pseuds/anna_chronistic
Summary: On June 7, 1832, ten bodies arrive at the morgue.  However, there is one body that cannot be identified.





	The Unknown Soldier

**Author's Note:**

> The title comes from the song _Unknown Soldier_ by the Doors.
> 
> I'm trying to write more canon era fics (although history isn't really my best subject :P). Comments are much appreciated!

_Wait until the war is over_  
_And we're both a little older_  
_The unknown soldier_

_And it's all over_  
_For the unknown soldier_  
_It's all over_  
_For the unknown soldier_

_Make a grave for the unknown soldier_  
_Nestled in your hollow shoulder_  
_The unknown soldier_

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

**June 7, 1832 1:00 p.m.**

This was just one of those days. It was a day where more bodies than usual showed up at the morgue. Whether this was the result of a disease outbreak or a series of gang-related crimes was unknown at this point. The morgue's newest arrivals were ten bodies, most of which had been dead for about 24 hours. Coroner Dr. Fréchet and medical examiner Dr. Gâteaux knew this was serious, and were completely unprepared for what they would find that day.

Dr. Gâteaux was young and optimistic. He was surprisingly happy-go-lucky for someone with such a morbid profession. On the contrary, Dr. Fréchet's demeanor matched his profession. Although Dr. Fréchet was two years older than Gâteaux, he looked about a decade older. Dr. Fréchet was a hovering somewhere between a pessimist and a realist and sometimes had to act as the voice of reason. Even though they were different, they both found their work that day to be particularly challenging judging from the unusually high amount of gunshots that they saw on the new arrivals. They both tried to remain as professional as possible as they made their way over to the first body.

"The cause of death seems rather easy to pinpoint, but I haven't a clue who this body belongs to," said Fréchet.

"It's Étienne," the younger doctor said solemnly. Dr. Gâteaux recognized him even without his glasses. Gâteaux had gone to medical school with him and thought him to be understanding and exceptionally smart. Gâteaux never expected to see Étienne Combeferre on an autopsy table with injuries that clearly showed that he had been stabbed to death.

"The cause of death is a result of sharp force trauma to the chest and sternum from multiple stab wounds," said Gâteaux. "The widths of the entry wounds are small, so it is likely that he had been stabbed by a bayonet rather than a conventional cudgel." 

None of the strikes from the bayonet hit any major arteries, so he would not have died instantly from his injuries; he would have bled out slowly. It was a brutal way to die. Gâteaux wondered how such an easygoing person could die such a violent death. And if he was so smart, why would he decide throw his life away at the barricades?

Fréchet and Gâteaux moved along to the smallest of the students, who appeared to be a teenager. But Gâteaux knew that this wasn't the case. The corpse on the table was another one of his fellow medical students: Matthieu Joly. After moving his shaggy hair aside, Gâteaux discovered that he had been shot point-blank in the face.

"Oh no not again...Matthieu?" Gâteaux said as his voice shook a little. But he had to file the report, so he pulled himself together nonetheless. "There is a gunshot entry wound at the right supraorbital margin of the frontal bone, just at the right eyebrow. The exit wound is at the back of the head. Death would have occurred instantly, as there are no signs of aspiration of blood."

It was disconcerting for Gâteaux to see Joly's once-jovial face struck by a bullet. Unlike Combeferre, Joly was easy to make fun of. Even Gâteaux occasionally joined in on teasing him for his hypochondria, unwarranted nervousness, and general eccentricity. Gâteaux regretted teasing Joly now. Joly clearly had the harder job of the two. Gâteaux only had to deal with patients after they were dead, while Joly had the stress of handling patients who were living and could potentially die. After all, it is impossible to kill a dead person. And Joly was in fact brave, brave enough to face the French army. After all was said and done, he didn't die of some disease like he thought he would. At least he died instantly.

Next, the coroner and the medical examiner turned their attention to the body of a tall middle-aged man with his eyes open. His hands were handcuffed together, and he hadn't been dead as long as the rest of them. This time, it is Fréchet who recognizes the dead man.

"The decedent is René Javert, inspector of the first class," Fréchet said. As a coroner, he would work closely with law enforcement in cases involving possible homicides. He knew Javert as the stoic inspector who would assume that every death that wasn't from natural causes was murder. Now his lifeless body was pulled from the Seine river and put onto an autopsy table.

"The cause of death is asphyxia as a result of drowning," said Fréchet. "The body is in full rigor mortis, which would put the time of death at about twelve hours. The manner of death is believed to be a suicide."

"Are you sure of this?" Gâteaux asked. "Could he have been thrown in the river?"

"I think not," said Fréchet. "Rigor mortis gives information on the last position held by the deceased before death. Look how perfectly supine his position is. There are no signs of struggle, which could mean that he intentionally ended his life."

Fréchet pondered why someone as cunning and austere as Javert committed suicide. Fréchet looked at the face that somehow looked less frightening in death than in life. What could possibly break a heart of stone? 

Since Javert's age, time of death, cause of death, and manner of death were completely different from the students', Fréchet and Gâteaux concluded that this man's death was a separate case and had absolutely nothing to do with the rebellion on the fifth and sixth of June.

The remainder of the bodies were most likely casualties from the student rebellion. Their causes of death were easy to pinpoint, but their identities remained a mystery to Fréchet and Gâteaux. Luckily, the public could often help in identifying bodies.

~~

Throughout the day, many parents came to the morgue, praying that they didn't find their children on the autopsy tables. This was an unfortunate day for one of such parents, M. Enjolras. He was able to identify two of the bodies.

"That is correct, monsieur," he said to Dr. Gâteaux. "This is my son, Maurice Enjolras, and this is his friend Clement d'Courfeyrac." He gestured to a blond man in a red waistcoat with multiple gunshots and a rich-looking man who had been shot in the chest. M. Enjolras wept, as he was devastated about what had happened to his son, but in the back of his mind he wasn't surprised at all. This was because republicans accused of treason were dealt with lethal force by the French military. He knew this and was oftentimes worried about the safety of his son and his friends.

"I'm sorry for your loss, Monsieur Enjolras," said Dr. Gâteaux.

Later, a woman who had called herself Musichetta identified a bald man as André Lesgles. The coroner and medical examiner knew that she was heartbroken but was trying to be strong. She also identified a homely looking man in a green waistcoat as Perryn Grantaire, a friend of Lesgles. Grantire, along with Enjolras, had so many gunshot wounds that Fréchet and Gâteaux couldn't definitively tell which ones killed him. Musichetta seemed to know a lot of the students, so Fréchet showed her some more of the unidentified bodies to see if she knew them. She was shown a young man in a mismatched outfit, a strong-looking redheaded one, and a thin one in tattered clothing. She did not recognize those three, but she did ask if they'd seen Joly. Fréchet and Gâteaux were hesitant to give her the news.

After more pickpocketers, worried civilians, and curious people coming to gawk at the bodies came and went, two people arrived to potentially identify the three remaining John Does. Their names were Monsieur Bahorel and Madame Prouvaire.

"This is my brother Victor," M. Bahorel said of the redheaded man on the autopsy table. "I wish it wasn't him, but it definitely is him." And then he began to cry.

"This is my son Jean," the woman sobbed as she leant on Dr. Fréchet. "Will any of these children receive a proper burial?"

"Yes they will, madame, as most of them have been identified," said Fréchet.

"I know you both are very distraught at the moment, but do you happen to know who this man is?" Gâteaux asks both of them, gesturing towards the thin man in shabby clothing. Unfortunately, none of them did.

~~

Of all the people that came to the morgue so far, not a single one was able to identify the last person. He was slightly below average height and thin, with old clothing and a gunshot wound to his neck that caused his demise. Even though they were getting nowhere with the identification, they still went through the standard procedures:

_sex: male_  
_age: early to mid twenties_  
_height: five feet four inches_  
_weight: 107 pounds_  
_hair: brown_  
_eyes: brown_

There was nothing particularly remarkable about this man. He clearly didn't come from a wealthy or well-known family. He was just so...average. He could be anyone.

"Damn, it looks like this person might never be identified," said Fréchet. Gâteaux thought about the implications of that. Maybe this person was alone and had no family. Or maybe the only people who knew who he was were dead themselves.

"Do you think he suffered?" Gâteaux asked Fréchet a rather unusual question.

"Not as much as the others. The bullet pierced the carotid artery, so it's likely that he would have exsanguinated within a minute, rendering him unconscious after a few seconds."

"Even if he is never identified, I still believe he should at least have a grave. I know that we usually don't talk about this, but I think this person's life was cut too short. An unmarked grave isn't much, but it seems fitting for this situation," said Gâteaux

"He shall have one, then. That's all that can really be done," Fréchet sighed looking at the man on the autopsy table who was soon to be forgotten by society.

~~

Somewhere in Paris, there is a grave that reads:

_Unknown Casualty of the Student Rebellion in June_  
_circa 1800s - June 6, 1832_  
_Rest In Peace ___

__And with that, Évariste Feuilly remained anonymous even after his death. Then the weeks went by and spring turned to summer, and summer faded into fall. And it turns out he was a missing person who nobody missed at all._ _

**Author's Note:**

> Song references: [Unknown Soldier by the Doors](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LSCoBk8hgU)


End file.
